JediMom Blog

Almost every social media site allows users to type a status and let the world know what they are doing at the moment. These status updates certainly influence your perception and opinion about a person. Lately, I’ve been wondering just how accurate and honest people are in their social media updates.

The platform does seem ripe for exaggeration. Consider these five possible scenarios:

1. The job seeker. Would it not be in their best interest to “enhance” their updates to appear busier or more sought after? As HR recruiters get more web2.0 savvy, you can bet that not only will they be finding a candidate’s facebook page, but also following those candidates on twitter. Is it possible to prompt a job offer simply by tweeting that you are considering multiple offers or have numerous interviews?
2. The entrepreneur or consultant. These types live on their ability to sell their credibility. Status updates can range from the conferences they’ve attended to the movers and shakers they have connected with. But they can also drop hints about their next big deal and high profile clients that can’t be mentioned by name.
3. The college student. Wouldn’t it be an advantage to let mom and dad know via your updates just how broke and overworked they are? Then they can just hang out waiting for the cash influx from dad and the sympathetic care package from mom.
4. The tech savvy kid. Just like the college student, these kids are smart enough to realize that mom and dad are stalking them online. A status which says they are working on a tough homework assignment will leave mom and dad with a warm, fuzzy feeling until the report card arrives.
5. The tech-savvy husband/wife. A marriage survival skill is certainly knowing how to read and speak your spouse’s love language. My husband’s status about cleaning the house, running errands, making dinner or grocery shopping would be music to my ears. (OK, I’m dreaming, but he does read my blog on occasion.)

Personal branding is a survival tool in today’s economy. It has always been important to keep up with the latest technology. But in today’s technical fields, it is also important to build a strong online profile and a significant social network. While it’s possible to build a network strictly on virtual connections, professionals realize the value in extending those relationships in the real world. That’s one situation where you better be able to live up to your own social media status hype.

So what do you think? Are most people honest in their status updates? Drop me a comment.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 at 10:59 pm and is filed under Social Networks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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